Wisconsin returned to limited on-field conditioning Friday as the number of active COVD-19 cases in the football program has started to decrease.
The Badgers have 14 active cases — nine athletes, five staff members — after one athlete and one staff member recorded positive COVID-19 tests during the past four days. Wisconsin elected to cancel last week’s game against Nebraska and Saturday’s game against Purdue because of the rise in positive tests among athletes and staff members. The program’s active cases rose to 27 (15 athletes, 12 staff members) earlier this week.
Athletic director Barry Alvarez said Wisconsin never reached the Big Ten’s “red/red” designation for team positivity, which requires upcoming competition to be canceled.
Head coach Paul Chryst, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Oct. 28, returned to in-person duties Thursday after 10 days of isolation. Wisconsin also paused all team activities on Oct. 28.
Wisconsin continues to hold all meetings virtually, and is using additional locker room space for its in-person activities. All athletes and staff are required to wear masks and maintain social distancing during the conditioning work.
The team will provide another update Monday. Wisconsin is scheduled to visit Michigan on Nov. 14.
Wisconsin, which opened the season Oct. 23 with a win against Illinois, likely must play its remaining five regular-season games to qualify for the West Division title and the Big Ten championship game. In order to compete in the game, a team must play at least six games.
If the average number of Big Ten games falls below six, then teams must play no less than two fewer games than the Big Ten average to be considered for the league championship. The champion will be determined in each division by its winning percentage, unless there is an unbalanced schedule because of the cancellation of games. If that’s the case, there are several scenarios in play.
If two or more teams have the same number of conference losses, but a different number of wins, head-to-head results will take precedence over winning percentage. If the canceled game was between the two teams with the same winning percentage, the records of the two tied teams will be compared based on winning percentage within their division.
